


people say that time heals all wounds

by strawberrysoliloquy



Category: Eddsworld
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Eddsworld AU, Gen, Hospital, Lots of scars, No one dies though, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tears, after the end, classic stupid tom amirite, harpoons are better than spoons yo, i asked my friend/cowriter what to name this and she replied with a meme so there you go, i swear this is a serious fic, joanne is the nurse btw ahaha, tom gets shot with a harpoon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-10-18 03:45:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10608618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrysoliloquy/pseuds/strawberrysoliloquy
Summary: [ abandoned ]---"i don't need friends; they disappoint me."au where the metal on tord's robot is too strong and the harpoon bounces back and stabs tom





	1. one

_ Hello, old friend. _   
  
Tom grimaced, remembering the Norwegian's relatively annoying accent, and took a swig of the bottle in his hand. Shocked by the taste of vodka in his mouth, he coughed, nearly spraying the alcohol all over the sofa.  _ Ugh _ , Tom thought, setting the bottle on the floor.  _ Tord must have screwed with my alcohol cabinet...filling it with his commie crap. _ Tom ran his fingers through his hair, thoroughly irritated at how much his life had changed over the course of just a couple days. Tord had stolen his room, his alcohol, and his friends. Tom was basically invisible at this point.    
  
The front door opened loudly, revealing a laughing Edd, Matt, and Tord. Edd was holding a paper bag that smelled like Chinese food, while Matt was carrying a box of donuts. Tord practically snorted with laughter, finishing up the punchline to some joke.    
  
"...and then she said, 'No, I ordered the green beans'!" he said, cuing laughs from both Edd and Matt as they all walked to the kitchen. Tom groaned irritably, forcing himself to get off the sofa and follow them into the brightly lit kitchen.    
  
"Oh, Tom!" Edd said, glancing at him as he unpacked the Chinese takeout boxes and setting them on the dining table. "I didn't know what you wanted, so I just got sweet and sour chicken." Tom shoved his shoulders toward his ears and muttered:   
  
"You know I don't like sweet and sour chicken." Tom shuffled his way to the fridge, though when he opened it, it was basically only filled with cola and some sort of communist-looking lemonade. All of his Smirnoff had miraculously disappeared from the fridge door, where it usually was placed. Tom barely restrained an angry grunt and just settled for squeezing the fridge door handle until his knuckles turned white. He proceeded to slam the door shut as quietly as possible.    
  
Edd laughed a small laugh. "Right...Tord was the one who ordered; Matt and I just sat down at a booth and made fun of the Chinese sitcom that was playing on the television." Tom turned around, half snarling and half smiling. Tord granted him a sarcastic grin in return.    
  
"You're welcome," Tord replied to an ungiven 'thank you'. "Sweet and sour chicken happens to be one of my favorites, so I figured you would like it too." Tom just brushed by Tord, snatching Matt's fried rice from the table while he was at it, ignoring Matt's upset "hey!" as he left the room.    
  
Tom could practically hear Matt's lip stick out as he complained. "He liked sweet and sour chicken last time we got Chinese food..." Edd sighed in resignation, and that's all Tom managed to catch before he dutifully walked down the hallway.    
  
Tom chewed a spoonful of fried rice, walking into "Tord's room" to grab Susan. His fingers itched to touch her strings after all of this unnecessary stress. The room basically radiated "communist" for some odd reason, but Tom shrugged it off, shoveling another mouthful of rice into his mouth. Shifting the rice to his left hand, he hefted Susan into his right.    
  
Tom ran into Matt on his way out of the room. Matt wouldn't get out of the way, a sort of upset and irritated expression on his face. Tom sighed in exasperation. "What do you want?"   
  
"First of all, I want my fried rice back!" Matt snatched the rice out of Tom's hand, nearly spilling it all over the place. Once satisfied in that aspect, Matt glared at Tom.    
  
"What is up with you? You've been a jerk ever since Tord arrived. No one is appreciating it." Tom was a little surprised that Matt, probably the second most calm and nice person in the house, albeit a bit thick headed, was coming to him directly to complain. Tom would have rolled his eyes if he had them, though.    
  
"I'm always a jerk. Have you not noticed?" Tom basically shouldered Matt out of the way, Tom ignoring Matt's obviously hurt expression as he walked towards the guest room.    
  
In his moodiness, it didn't occur to him that the guest room had been turned into a pool, until after he opened the door. Shockingly cold jets of water shot out at Tom, strong enough to knock him against the opposite wall. With some struggle, Tom managed to close the door, panting heavily as he leaned against it. He was all sopping wet, and to his dismay, Susan was too.    
  
He heard footsteps coming towards him. Tom brushed his soaked hair out of his face to see who it was. Edd came rushing at him with a towel, while Matt and Tord trailed behind him.    
  
"What were you thinking??" Edd asked, sounding an annoyed but mostly worried mother. "I told you the guest room was a pool now." Edd wrapped the towel around Tom's shoulders, and looked at him with an expression that Tom couldn't decipher.    
  
"I forgot," Tom deadpanned. Tom glanced in Tord and Matt's general direction, not really sure what he was expecting from them. Matt had a look on his face that was almost every emotion at once. Tord, though, looked like he was about to burst out laughing and never stop.    
  
A moment of awkward silence passed, the only noise being the drip of water that was coming from seemingly everywhere. Suddenly, Tord burst out laughing, as expected.    
  
"Ha!" he exclaimed, leaning on Matt, trying to catch a breath. "Classic, stupid Tom!" Tom clenched his jaw, attempting to control himself for a fleeting moment. When Matt and Edd started to giggle a little, Tom snapped, storming over to Tord. He stabbed a finger at Tord's chest.    
  
"Who do you think you are?!" he yelled. "Walking in here, thinking you can take all of my stuff, thinking you can make a fool of me." Edd walked over, put a hand on Tom's shoulder, but Tom shook him off. Tord needed to be yelled at. He didn't get yelled at enough.    
  
"I'm so done! You just waltz in here and practically ruin my life in about four days. Whose idea was this, huh?! You steal my room, my Smirnoff, my friends...speaking of friends--" Tom whirled on Edd and Matt, his face flushed with rage. "What kind of friends are you?" Matt opened his mouth to speak, looking thoroughly hurt, but Tom cut him off before he could say anything. "You noticed! This whole time! And you didn't do anything! So happy to see this little jerk that you didn't even give me the time of the freaking day!" Edd just stared at Tom, his eyes narrowed.    
  
A heavy silence came over the room. Tom was out of words, exhausted. He saw Edd shake his head, seemingly disappointed. He walked down the hallway without a word, Tord and Matt following him. Matt gave him a quick pitiful glance over his shoulder, before turning away and leaving Tom alone in the dripping hallway.   
  
"Fine," Tom growled to no one. "I don't need you guys." With a start, he realized he had nowhere to go. No one really did want or need him here. The stupid communist had taken his room and Edd had deemed it a "good idea" to make the guest room a pool. He had been saving up to buy his own place for a while, but he hadn't thought it necessary to actually take action because Edd was welcoming enough. Tom huffed, snatching Susan from the floor and stomped down the hallway. Better timing than ever, he thought.    
  
He ended up plopping back down on the couch, even though he was still wet. He strummed Susan's strings lightly, a warm bass tone filling the room. Tom sighed with relief. Thank goodness there wasn't any water damage; Tom honestly didn't know what he would do without her.    
  
He laid back on the couch, staring at the ceiling and fingering Susan's strings. Was it really time to move on? Even after all the good times and adventures he'd had? Tom exhaled loudly, looking down at Susan. He couldn't stand Tord at all, and it seemed that Edd and Matt preferred Tord over him anyway. Tom's gaze strayed to the wall, on which hung dozens of pictures of all of his adventures with Edd and Matt. Tom smiled sadly as he got up from the sofa and walked over to the wall. He touched each picture lightly, reminiscing each memory with his two best friends. Tom took a step back, looking at the whole wall at once. He exhaled a long sigh as he just stood staring at the wall for several moments before making his way back to the couch and grabbing Susan.    
  
"It's time to pack it up," he told her softly. He slung Susan onto his back and walked down the hallway to his old room to pack up his things.    
  
When he got to the door of the room, it was closed and he could hear someone inside, shuffling around. Tom groaned. It must be Tord, reading hentai or something.    
  
"Hey," he said, rapping on the door with his knuckles. "I'm coming in." Tom opened the door and walked in, even though he didn't hear a response. The shuffling in the room stopped abruptly as Tom looked at Tord and Tord looked back at him, with a shocked expression, obviously in the middle of something.    
  
The back wall of the room was...gone. Instead there was another room where the wall was supposed to be. The side room was filled with guns and blueprints, and probably a million buttons. Tord was just about to press a big red button, and was frozen in that position. Tom stormed into the room.    
  
"What is this??" Tom exclaimed. "You have a side room in my room??" Tord rolled his eyes, once again assuming his irritating, not caring persona.    
  
"It's not your room anymore, old friend. It's mine." Tord began to roam around the side room, pulling out a cigar from his jacket pocket. He put it in his mouth, taking out a lighter and lighting his cigar. "And anyways, it was mine before it became yours." Tord walked close to Tom, as if about to share a secret with him. Instead, he blew a puff of cigar smoke in Tom's face. Tom backed away quickly, coughing and trying to wave the smoke out of his face. When the smoke finally cleared and Tom stopped coughing, he saw that Tord was at that big red button again.    
  
"I just came to get this back," he said, slamming the button fast enough that Tom couldn't get to his side in time to stop him. A metal box came down from a hole in the ceiling, Tord looking at it with palpable glee. The box positioned itself over Tord's head, and then after a moment of mechanical whirring, popped a hat directly onto Tord's head. Tord let out a small squeal, oddly unlike him, and looked at Tom.    
  
"My hat!" Tom gave Tord a blank stare. This was what all of this was for? Had he honestly misjudged Tord this whole time? Tom's mind spun as he glanced around the room.    
  
Tord struck a little pose, pleased with himself. "It goes perfectly with my giant robot."   
  
"Yeah, of course," Tom replied. "I bet it does." The words slowly replayed themselves inside Tom's mind.  _ It goes perfectly with my giant robot. _ Giant... robot? Tom was thoroughly confused, and it most likely showed on his face. Tord gave a shrug and hit the button again, shooting Tom a grin that flashed his incisors briefly. A large, translucent red tube came down from the ceiling, fitting itself over Tord. Tord stuck his tongue out and waved his fingers at Tom.    
  
"So long, old friend." Tom watched, his mouth gaping, as the tube sucked Tord down into the depths of the house. He ran over and looked into the hole in the floor, starting when he saw a legitimate giant red robot. Huge mechanical arms were assembling it, whirrs filling the whole entire room. Tom could see Tord in the cockpit through the red glass, his arms crossed and his lips quirked. The house rumbled and creaked as the huge red robot descended deeper into the depths of the house, disappearing.    
  
Tom stared, unaware of what he was feeling. With a start, he ran out into the hallway and pressed his face onto the glass of the nearest window. The giant robot emerged from a hole in the front yard and then mechanically turned to face the house. Even from Tom's position inside the house, he could see Tord's crazed grin from there. The right arm of the robot lifted, sending loud whirs throughout the air. Suddenly, a spray of bullets rained down onto the house, being shot from an enormous cannon embedded inside of the robot's arm.    
  
"Holy f--" Tom yelled, running frantically to warn Matt and Edd, all the while attempting to dodge bullets that were being showered upon the house. A bullet whizzed by Tom's face, leaving a light graze on his cheek that burned slightly. He swore, and kept running down the hall.    
  
"Edd! Matt!" Matt was in Edd's room, cowering behind Edd's bed, while Edd tried in vain to comfort him, even though he looked as freaked and distressed as Matt did.    
  
"What's going on?" Matt cried, looking completely terrified. Tom shook his head frantically, not knowing how to fit everything had he experienced so far in a couple short sentences.    
  
"We need to get out of here before the stupid communist kills us all," Tom said quickly. They all shared an emotion filled look, and then rushed themselves out of the room and down the hallway. The bullets kept raining down like a spring storm, but somehow the three managed to tumble out the front door unscathed.    
  
"Tord!" Edd exclaimed at the giant robot. "What's going on?!" The spray of ammunition slowed as the robot whirred and turned to face them.    
  
"Hey, Edd!" Tord called back, as if he was just chatting with a close friend. "I just couldn't leave this behind! Thanks for holding onto it for me!" Edd looked devastated, betrayed even.    
  
"But I thought we were...I thought we were friends!"    
  
A bark of laughter ripped through the tension in the air. "Ha, no! What would I need friends for when I've got this? I'm unstoppable!" As soon as Tord finished his sentence, the robot's arm was extended, transforming into a huge missile launcher. With an explosive crackle, a rocket spun into the air, aimed directly at Tom, Matt, and Edd.    
  
In the seconds that followed, Tom looked at Edd and Matt, they looked back at him, and they smiled at each other sadly. Tom could almost hear Edd say, "So this is it, is it?" Tord's laughter rang through the air as the missile exploded into its target, heat and smoke erupting all around them.    
  
After what seemed like hours, Tom gasped, then coughed really hard. It was pitch dark and he felt like the weight of a thousand bricks was laying on his chest. His left arm stung like hell and it seemed like he was taking labored breaths of smoke and dust. He groaned and shifted, his right hand hitting something large and cold, despite the sweltering heat surrounding him. Tom felt around a little more, suddenly recognizing the feel of the handle of his harpoon gun.    
  
Out of nowhere, a hurricane-like gust of wind ripped through...wherever Tom happened to be, and the darkness shifted, revealing gaps of light.  _ I'm buried _ , Tom realized.  _ Tord actually shot us. _ With the small amount of strength he had left, Tom fought against the blasting wind and heat, pulling himself out of the pit of debris.    
  
The wind happened to be coming from Tord's giant robot as it started to take off into the sky.   
  
"So long, old friends! The world isn't going to take over itself!" Tord called.    
  
Tom managed to stand, and he looked at the devastation lying about him. Tom could hear Matt crying somewhere off to the left. Edd was on all fours, coughing, next to some debris from the house. What was left of it, at least. The house was just a pile of smoldering remains now.    
  
Something bitter and angry came over Tom. He was sick of this. Today was not supposed to end up this way. With a final spurt of overstimulated emotion, Tom ripped the harpoon gun out of the disaster, tears of anger blurring his eye sight.    
  
" _ I am not your friend! _ " he yelled, his arm burned as his body absorbed the shock of the harpoon gun launched an aquamarine harpoon directly at the giant robot. The robot spun around to face Tom, Tord looking either exhausted, crazed, or extremely pleased with himself, possibly all three. A wicked grin split Tord's face.    
  
Things didn't go exactly as planned. It all happened in a flash of images, like someone dropping a pile of photographs on the ground. Something had gone fatally wrong.    
  
The harpoon sped towards the giant robot, finally coming in contact with the red metal plating on the front. The harpoon seemed to bend, the speed and the durability of the metal causing it to suddenly and abruptly ricochet back towards Tom. Tom's eyes widened as the setting sun cast a shiny glint on the harpoon careening toward him.    
  
Pain shot through Tom's midsection, his vision blurring from sudden tears of indescribable agony. Tom coughed, faintly aware of the red splatters hitting the grass. It all tasted like dirty pennies. Tom swooned, then fell to his knees, the pain too much for him to bear. He heard Matt scream his name, and then Edd do the same. Tom looked down, nearly retching when he saw the harpoon stabbed clean through his stomach.    
  
He heard the light pitter-pattering of feet running towards him. He felt hands hold his arms. Tom couldn't speak. He could barely breathe. It hurt so much. He heard his name being called, shouting, screaming. Tom's head lolled back, his eyes closing, the faint blurs of Edd and Matt's figures being the last he saw before it all went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have 0 clue how this update schedule is going to end up. i am literally the master procrastinator so,,,, we will see lmao
> 
> tord will end up crying so
> 
> stick around


	2. two

A soft beeping emanated through the room as Tom groggily opened his eyes. He groaned, suddenly acutely aware of the pain, a sharp throbbing stabbing his midsection. He looked to the side, noticing that his arm was hooked up to an IV.  _ An IV? _ he thought.  _ Where am I?  _   
  
Tom heard shuffling off to his right.    
  
"Matt! Matt, wake up!" A figure rushed to Tom's side. "He's awake!" Tom looked at the person standing over him, his mind not registering any of the features on their face. There was mumbling from the "Matt" person, and they got up from a chair, smoothing out the wrinkles in their purple hoodie, and stood next to the person already standing at the bed.    
  
Person A looked exhausted, prominent eye bags and ruffled brown hair definitely showing it. They touched Tom's right arm lightly, but then bit their lip and moved their hand back to their side when Tom recoiled. A silence filled the room, besides the beeping, as Tom stared at the two strangers at his bedside.    
  
"You've been asleep for days now," said Person A, rubbing their hands on their green hoodie anxiously. "They said you'd be..." Person A sighed. "They said you wouldn't remember much." Person A and Person B shared a sad look.    
  
"Do you...remember me?" asked Person B in a small voice. After a few seconds, Tom shook his head slightly. Person B's hand shot to their mouth, appearing to be on the verge of tears. Person A reached over and rubbed Person B's shoulder, as Person B began to cry silent tears.    
  
"I'm Edd," Person A said softly. "This is Matt." Tom tried to sit up, but when greeted by a sharp pang of pain and Edd's hand shooting out to stop him, he just stayed laying down.    
  
"...What happened to me?" Tom asked in a hoarse voice that didn't sound like his own. Edd gave Matt a look, and Matt went over to the bedside table and poured a cup of water. Matt wiped his tears quickly, sniffing a little as he put the plastic cup to Tom's lips. Most of the water spilled down Tom's chin, but the little water he actually got was so refreshing, like he'd been in a desert for months and had just gotten his first drink of water. Matt took the cup away and stared at Tom with this expression that Tom couldn't understand to the slightest.    
  
Edd sighed again. "You...you were shot with a harpoon?" Edd looked at the floor. "I mean, technically you shot a harpoon at Tord and then it bounced off of his robot and stabbed you instead." Matt shot Edd a glare.    
  
"You said we weren't going to say anything about Tord," Matt whispered, appearing a tad bit upset. Edd looked surprised.    
  
"Oh yeah. I did say that, didn't I?" Edd sighed once more. "Seems like this whole thing isn't affecting just Tom anymore." Tom searched Edd and Matt's faces, slightly wincing because of the pain.    
  
"Who's Tord?" he asked, fingering the IV tube hooked up to his arm. Edd opened his mouth to respond, but Matt quickly talked over him.    
  
"He's no one. Just...just an old friend." Another silence overtook the conversation as Tom examined the room. The constant beeping happened to be a heart monitor, the red line on the screen rising and falling methodically. Tom furrowed his brows.  _ IV? Heart monitor? I must be in a hospital. _ There were a pair of brown chairs seated close to the hospital bed, both looking well worn. There was a small table on the right side of the hospital bed with a pitcher of water, a couple plastic cups stacked one inside the other, and a small vase, which contained a lone yellow flower, though Tom couldn't tell if it was real or not.    
  
Someone stepped through the door on the far side of the room. She had blonde hair, loosely pulled back into a ponytail, and a white smock. She smiled brightly at all of them, despite the obviously dreary atmosphere in the room. She walked towards them, plucking a clipboard from the end of Tom's hospital bed on her way over.    
  
"What are you two still doing here? Visiting hours ended a long while ago," she said in an accent that was impossible to identify, addressing Matt and Edd. Edd gave a shrug and his eyes flicked to Tom for a brief second.     
  
"We were told we could stay until he woke up..." Matt replied, his eyes trailing to the tiled floor. The woman's face softened a little.    
  
"Well, I guess I can forgive that," she said, giving them a smile. "It's nice to see people that care so deeply for their friends, no matter what." She turned to Tom, tapping a red pen against her clipboard.    
  
"I'm Nurse Joanne," she introduced, flashing him that bright smile that never seemed to actually ever leave her face. "I'll be taking care of you while you recover here, um...." She looked at her clipboard quickly. "...Thomas!" Tom fiddled with the fabric on his pale blue hospital gown, suddenly feeling much too tired to correct her. Joanne looked at Edd and Matt, looking a little resigned.    
  
"I think that it would be best for you to go now. We'll take good care of him here." Edd just nodded in response, following Matt to the chairs to collect their things. Matt quickly left the room without saying anything, the door making a loud noise as it closed behind him. Edd stalled a little, looking at Tom for a second before reaching into his backpack and pulling out a red can and setting it on the table next to the pitcher of water. With that and a small, tired smile, he left the room, leaving Tom with Nurse Joanne.    
  
Joanne looked at the can of cola, and after a moment of silent consideration, opened it and poured some into one of the plastic cups. She reached over, pressing some buttons on the side of the hospital bed, making the bed shift so Tom was sitting up. With a slight smile, she handed Tom the plastic cup. Tom took it, gazing at her and then gazing at the fizzy brown liquid.    
  
Joanne walked over to some of the hospital equipment and started looking through her clipboard once again. "How does everything feel?" she asked, writing something down.    
  
"It hurts," he mumbled, still looking at the cola. Joanne gave him one of those looks that was so sympathetic, it was almost painful to be the one on the receiving end.    
  
"You're gonna have to give me better than that, sweetie. Tell me where so I can help." Tom hesitantly took a sip of the cola, a little surprised when he realized it actually tasted okay. Something in his mind told him that he would rather be drinking Smirnoff, but he wasn't entirely sure where that thought was coming from.    
  
"Everywhere. It all hurts." Tom rubbed the side of the plastic cup and then downed the rest of the cola. Joanne  _ tsk _ ed and plucked the cup out of his hands.    
  
"Don't drink all of that so fast. You're going to end up--" Bile crawled up Tom's throat abruptly and vomit splattered all over the sheets and his hospital gown. Tom just sat there, shocked and disgusted, as Joanne rushed to clean him up.    
  
"You're not going to be able to keep anything down for a while," she stated bluntly as she pulled the sheets off of him. "Everything in moderation from now on. Your body isn't used to any liquids or foods and your stomach and other adjacent organs are all just...really screwed up right now, to say the least." Out of nowhere, Joanne whipped out a damp cleaning wipe and wiped the vomit off of Tom's face and his gown. She then disposed of it, bundling the sheets in her arms.    
  
"I'll be right back with clean sheets and a clean gown, okay?" She swiftly left the room, a light baby powder scent lingering even after she was gone. Tom leaned back, his throat feeling raw and his body feeling absolutely exhausted. Surely it wouldn't hurt for him to take a little nap. His eyes fluttered shut and he was enveloped in the darkness of sleep once again.    
  
When he woke up, sunlight peaked through the window, the curtains slightly open. His mouth was dry, his body crying out for water. Tom looked at the bedside table, the pitcher of water sitting there innocently next to the stack of plastic cups. Tom bit his bottom lip, looking around the empty room. He silently noted that his hospital gown was now a pale orange and that his sheets were clean and smelled of lemons. Tom wasn't sure how Nurse Joanne had managed to do this while he was asleep, but apparently she had.    
  
Tom looked again at the pitcher of water. It was so close. If he just...reached over a little, maybe he could get it. His mind attempted to calculate the distance between him and the water, but it quickly gave up, simply urging him to grab the stupid pitcher and drink the dang water.    
  
He mustered some strength, his body aching, and reached over to grab the pitcher. His fingers brushed the handle. Tom let out a frustrated breath, and shifted in the hospital bed in an attempt to grab the water again. His left shoulder burned under its bandages and his midsection felt like it was on fire. How could just reaching for water be so painful?   
  
Tom reached again. This time, his fingers managed to grasp the handle, but when he went to bring the pitcher over to him, his arm gave out. Tom swore loudly, the glass pitcher shattering and all the water splashing on the floor. Flecks of water managed to reach his face and Tom felt himself get really upset and fed up with everything.    
  
Nurse Joanne rushed into the room, seemingly knowing exactly when she was needed. She stopped when she saw the mess of water on the tiled floor.    
  
"Were you thirsty?" she asked, moving over to him, carefully avoiding the glass shards on the ground. Her tone was slightly pitiful, but mostly concerned. Tom realized that hot tears of anger were rolling down his cheeks and he moved to brush them away, but Joanne held out a hand.    
  
"Let me do it," she said, pulling out a tissue from nowhere, as she usually did. "You're obviously exhausted and shouldn't be doing anything, except resting." Tom flinched when she carefully dabbed at his face with the tissue, but he didn't pull away. He was humiliated that she saw him like this, completely vulnerable, but he figured that she was used to this. She was a nurse after all.    
  
Joanne finished wiping his face, giving him a look that resembled a concerned mother.    
  
"Are you alright? Do you want anything besides water?" Tom shook his head, honestly just wanting to be left alone to hurt. She lingered at his side for a couple more moments before moving away.    
  
"Okay then," she said, pointing to a button on one of the rails of hospital bed. "Press this if you need anything. I'll go get someone to clean this up and I'll be back with some water." She gave him a small encouraging smile, and Tom looked away, feeling stupid. Had he known that the button was there, this mess wouldn't have happened.    
  
Nurse Joanne left the room, leaving him alone again. His body radiated pain, and he was just so tired. Tired, wanting sleep and possibly death. He had only been awake for two days and he just felt awful.    
  
His vision blurred. Goddamnit, was he crying again? Tom gave a sniff, not bothering to wipe the tears and letting them slide down his face.    
  
The door opened again, it being Nurse Joanne and someone else. Joanne came over to him, holding a new pitcher of water, this one notably made of plastic. Tom stared at the sheets of his hospital bed, not wanting to look at his nurse, or at anyone, really. He heard water being poured into a cup and Joanne handed him the plastic cup. After a couple of seconds, Tom took the water, staring at its clearness.    
  
The other person that had walked in with Nurse Joanne just happened to be a janitor. When the janitor noticed that Tom was staring, he gave a small wave and a wry smile. The mess on the floor was cleaned up quickly and Joanne started to look at the hospital equipment.    
  
Tom took a sip of water, watching the janitor leave. Suddenly, a calm settled over Tom, all the pain in his body numbing. He looked at Joanne, who was removing a syringe from his IV. She seemed to feel him looking and spoke.    
  
"It'll make you feel better for a while," was all she said. "Drink your water, Thomas." Tom stared at her, then stared at the water. He'd gone through so much trouble just to get a drink and now that he actually had one, he didn't feel thirsty enough to drink it.   
  
The numbed pain made him feel even more exhausted. Tom managed to drink some more water, not really wanting to. He looked up from the cup at Joanne, who wasn't there anymore. He searched the room, once again finding that he was alone.    
  
Tom didn't even finish his water before his eyes closed, sleep settling over him once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was actually about 1000 words less than i wanted it to be,, but i thought that it ended nicely, so i just left it lol
> 
> i honestly feel like i should research hospital settings bc i feel like this is totally & completely inaccurate for some reason
> 
> also:   
> \- headcanonly,,, matt is hecka sensitive + smol,, so that's why he seems really overwhelmed by all of this  
> \- joanne is actually a character in eddsworld ???? like,, look here: https://youtu.be/cP0cyiGbHwM she's there very briefly, but she's there ahaha
> 
> alright,,, cryin tord is coming so,,, bear with me here lmao


	3. three

The hospital wasn't as awful as Tom had previously thought, though he still thought that it was awful. He stayed laying in bed all the time, Joanne saying that he was much too unrested to be walking around.

If he recalled correctly, he'd been in the hospital for over a month now. Edd and Matt came to visit almost everyday, and they tried to help him recall his memory with stories of all their crazy shenanigans. He never remembered anything that they told him. 

\---

Tom jolted up in bed, terror enveloping him, sweat drenching his body. He looked around the hospital room frantically, finding it dark and empty. He put his head in his hands, feeling like he was going to vomit. Why was he so scared? He tried to recollect his dream, but his memory once again failed him, only giving him brief images of a man with a wayward smile and total ruin. 

He felt like a child, just sitting there. He was tempted to press the button for Nurse Joanne, just so he wouldn't be alone, but Tom figured she was much too busy to deal with him. 

Tom trembled a little, feeling too shaken to try to go back to sleep. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself. He took his head out of his hands and looked around the room again. It seemed darker than it was only a few moments ago. The curtains were drawn over the window on the wall and the blinds were closed over the narrow window on the door.

The dark seemed to lace black tendrils into the very fabric of the air and Tom felt his heart begin to pound against his ribcage. His hands gripped the thin sheets and spots blurred the edge of his vision. What was he so afraid of? Why was he so completely terrified? His breathing came in rattled inhales and exhales, his mind overwhelmed. 

Several quiet minutes passed, Tom feeling his heart rate slowly decrease. He closed his eyes, attempting to come to his senses, and took some more deep breaths. Feeling a little better, Tom laid back down. He tried to make himself stay awake, scared of what might happen if he fell back asleep, but his eyes drooped shut and a dreamless sleep surrounded him as it always did, whether he wanted it to or not. 

Nurse Joanne was standing over Tom's bed when he woke up, nearly giving him a heart attack. 

"Good morning, Thomas," she chirped, adjusting the angle of his hospital bed and handing him a tray. Tom blinked at her, then blinked at the tray, which only had glass of water and a small bowl of oatmeal. Tom rubbed the sleep from his eyes as Joanne checked his vitals, as per routine. 

He picked up the plastic spoon next to the bowl and prodded the oatmeal with it. He didn't feel hungry at all, but nowadays he could never tell if he was hungry or not. Usually he ate the food that Joanne gave him, but today, he really didn't feel up to it. 

Nurse Joanne threw open the curtains over the window with relish. Sunlight streamed into the room, making Tom wince a little. In a rush, Tom remembered his night incident, his stomach twisting. Joanne seemed to notice the change in demeanor and walked over to him, tapping her clipboard lightly. 

"Is everything alright?" she queried, giving him that concerned look she always seemed to give him. Tom faked a smile, feeling pained. 

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just... tired, is all." Joanne stared at him for a while, making Tom feel a wave of anxiousness. She then returned the smile, this one completely genuine. 

"Okay," she said, moving towards the door. "Just drink your water for me, alright? You need something." She opened the door and held it open with her hip, recalling a thought and tapping her chin with her red pen. 

"Oh, and visiting hours are in a while. Your friends are going to be here soon." Tom gave her another fabricated smile in response, and she left the room. The room felt empty without her presence, and Tom realized that Joanne was growing on him. It was nice having her around, though when she called him Thomas, it reminded him of something bitter. Something bitter that he couldn't remember. 

Tom stared at the oatmeal, feeling a little sick. He put the tray on the bedside table with quite a bit of effort, nearly spilling the food all over the floor. The muscles in his arms burned with exertion. Tom let out a breath as someone knocked on the door.

"Hey, Tom," called Edd, opening the door and coming in, Matt trailing behind him. Tom offered a smile that probably looked more like a grimace. If Edd noticed, he didn't say anything, just dragged one of the worn brown chairs over to the hospital bed. Matt followed suit, looking tired. 

"Edd tried to smuggle Ringo into the hospital," Matt deadpanned, leaning on the bed's side rail. Edd gave a look like "Hey, how was I supposed to know cats aren't allowed in hospitals?". Tom laughed a little. 

"What did they do with the cat?" he asked, already forgetting the name of the animal. Matt huffed and looked at Edd, who shrugged and pulled a can of cola from his backpack, which he put on the floor. 

"They said that they put him somewhere 'safe' until we were done." Edd shrugged again, ultimately carefree as he opened his soda with a pop and a fizz. "Hopefully they'll treat him okay." Tom and Matt watched Edd take a sip of his cola, and it was silent for a while. 

"Have you...remembered anything?" Edd inquired after he had taken several drinks of cola. Tom looked away, hoping that his friends wouldn't notice how pained his expression was. 

"No," he said, trying not to mumble. Matt and Edd squinted at Tom and then shared a glance with each other. 

"We know when you're lying," Matt said,  
giving Tom a sympathetic gaze. Tom bit his lip, silently hating how honest and open his face could be sometimes. He stared at his hands, turning them over and seeing how pale they were. He could bet that he looked completely exhausted, like he was just wasting away on this hospital bed. 

It was silent for a few more moments, and then Edd reached out and touched Tom's forearm lightly. 

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," he said softly, a nod from Matt backing him up. Tom felt himself become frustrated at how nice these men were to him. Edd withdrew his fingers, realizing that Tom didn't feel like talking about it. Tom watched Edd elbow Matt out of the corner of his eye. 

"Oh!" Matt exclaimed, reaching over to Edd's backpack and pulling out a threadbare stuffed animal. When Matt presented it to him with a wide, excited smile, Tom frowned slightly, staring at the tattered bear. 

"I found Tomee Bear!" Tom's brows furrowed, his mind fuzzy. Edd murmured something to Matt, who then made an understanding noise. Matt placed the stuffed animal on Tom's lap. It smelled like dust and fire damage, but Tom couldn't help but feel sentimental towards it for some reason. 

"Tomee Bear's your favorite little thing. You've had him since forever," Matt explained, still smiling, probably reminiscing. "Every time we'd try to get you to throw him out, you'd throw a fit." Edd and Matt shared a laugh and Tom fiddled with one of the faded brown ears on the toy. 

"We figured that it would be best for your...recovery if we brought some things from home to make you feel more like yourself," Edd said, rubbing his cola can. "You never know, maybe they'll spark some feelings or maybe memories!" Tom looked from the bear to his friends. 

"Thanks," he said, really meaning it. "This is really nice of you guys." The atmosphere in the room made Tom feel happy for the first time in a long time and he smiled without realizing it. He gazed at the stuffed animal and hugged it to his chest. 

"Thank you," he repeated, still smiling. 

Edd and Matt stayed all the way until visiting hours were over, as per usual, and Nurse Joanne had to practically shoo them out of the room to get them to leave. Once they were gone, Joanne walked over to Tom, smiling at him, and for once, Tom actually smiled back. 

"Having a good day, I see?" she said, checking his vitals for probably the millionth time that day. Tom nodded, feeling incredibly giddy for some reason. He played with Tomee Bear's little arms idly. 

"Yeah. Today's just been...really good to me for some reason," he replied, giving Joanne a happy look. Joanne walked around the hospital bed and started to change the bandage on Tom's shoulder. He hissed when she took off the old bandage, the air attacking the still-open wound. She wiped it with antiseptic, making Tom clench his jaw. After all this time, he still flinched when Joanne changed his bandage. 

Joanne patted his shoulder when she was done, stepping away. 

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," she said, cleaning up the old bandages and discarding of them. "You've got a surgery scheduled soon." Tom's brow furrowed as he watched her. 

"A surgery?" he asked. "For what?" Joanne gave a small shrug. 

"The doctors need to investigate the state of your stomach and other organs. They're going to try to align everything, so then maybe you can eat some more solid foods." Joanne put her clipboard on the end of Tom's hospital bed and moved toward the door. "I'm going to grab you dinner. Sit tight." She swiftly left the room, the door closing behind her. 

A wave of nausea settled over Tom suddenly, and any good feelings he had felt slipped away like sand through his fingers. Pain shot up his body and exhaustion spilled into his limbs. He moved so he was laying down, clutching Tomee Bear to him. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to wish the pain away, but his body ignored him, stabbing him all over his torso. 

Joanne came back into the room, holding a tray similar to the one from this morning. She slowed a little when she saw the difference in the room, but otherwise kept advancing towards him. 

"Not hungry?" She murmured the question softly, adjusting the angle of his hospital bed. Joanne ultimately reminded him of his mother in that moment, just younger and blonder. Tom shook his head no, curling up under the thin sheets. She set the tray of food on the bedside table. 

"It really hurts," he managed to say, wincing every so often. Joanne moved and drew the curtains over the windows, darkening the room a little. Tom felt Joanne's sympathetic gaze and wondered if she gave that look to all her patients or if she gave it to just him. 

"I can give you something for that, if you want," she said, walking towards the IV. Tom nodded, squeezing the stuffed bear to him. The shooting pains were worse than all the other times, these feeling like someone was meticulously stabbing him with a pair of scissors all the way up his body. Tom's eyes started to water against his will and he sniffed, trying to keep the tears at bay. 

The pains faded away slowly, Joanne removing a syringe from the IV and placing it on a small metal stand. 

"Better?" she asked, touching his arm lightly. Tom nodded again, feeling too tired to actually respond. Joanne gave him a ghost of a smile, patting his arm a few times. 

"Get some rest. It'll be good for you, Thomas." She pointed to the food on the bedside table. "I'm going to leave this here, in case you feel hungry later, alright?" More nodding. Joanne quietly retreated from the room, the door clicking shut behind her. 

Tom gave a tired sigh, looking at the ceiling and then at the tray of food. He craned his neck to see the contents, it being another glass of water and a small bowl of soup. Now that his body was done assaulting him, he sort of wanted to eat, but he was much too exhausted to move and get the food. 

Tom brushed away the beginnings of tears, hating himself and his body. Why did this happen to him? Why him? Why not someone else? Tom let out a frustrated huff, the medicine making him feel sleepy as usual. He cast his gaze at the ceiling's rectangular tiles, the plainness almost hypnotizing him. 

Shifting under the thin sheets, Tom held Tomee Bear to his chest and allowed himself to fall asleep again. 

He slept all through the night, and most of the morning. Joanne didn't wake him, and when he finally came to, it was sunny in the room and a tray that was similar to the one from yesterday morning was sitting on the bedside table. 

Tom sat up, wincing a little when he stretched the muscles in his stomach. He scrunched his lips to the side, wondering if he was hungry or not. He looked away from the tray, settling on the thought that he wasn't. 

Nurse Joanne walked into the room with a bright smile. 

"Good morning!" she said, moving to him. Tom rubbed his eyes, and sat up a little straighter. 

"Mornin'." he murmured tiredly, still waking up a little. Joanne took the tray and and placed it on his lap, giving him a meaningful look. 

"You haven't eaten anything for the past couple of days. You need to eat, Thomas." Tom looked away from her, biting his lip. He fiddled with the glass of water, her gaze boring into his soul. He picked up the glass and took a sip, looking at Joanne out of the corner of his eye. She gave a noise and a nod of approval when he drank the water. 

"Good, good," she said, beginning to look at her clipboard. "Try to eat some oatmeal, too." Tom groaned a little, picking up the cool metal spoon and playing with the creamy oatmeal in the bowl. Joanne seemed to remember something, holding up her forefinger and tapping it to her chin. Tom lifted the spoon to his mouth and ate some oatmeal, frowning slightly at the maple flavor. 

"Someone is here to visit you," Joanne stated, watching him eat. "A young man with a Russian accent? I think? He says he's an..." She appeared to be trying to recall the exact words. "He says he's an old friend."

Tom's gaze flicked to the narrow window on the door. A man looked into the room curiously, one side of his face appearing completely destroyed and scarred. When the man noticed that Tom was looking, his hand shot to his mouth, and he backed away from the window, seeming shaken. Tom thought he saw the beginnings of tears on the man's face and he turned away, feeling uncomfortable. Joanne put her hands in front of her, lacing her fingers together. 

"Do you want me to let him in?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is sorta rushed lol !! i don't like how it ends tbh but i just wanted to finish it so we can get to some
> 
> ~ c r y i n g t o r d ~
> 
> and hey don't be like "tom's harpoon didn't hit the robot ???? tord shouldn't be scarred ??? doodle what you doin???" i know what i'm doin,,, i know,,, calm yo nongender specific tits--
> 
> but um yeah !! this was highkey filler but //shrug// what can ya do lol


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